School-desk



. G. L. RANKlN.

SCHOOL DESK. APPLICATION FILED AUG-I8. 1"'919. 1,346,976, Patented July20,1920.

GEORGE L. RANKIN, OF MUNHALL, PENNYLVANIA.

SCHOOL-DESK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' I Patented July 20, 1920.

Application led August 18, 1919. Serial No. 318,071.

'To all 107mm t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. RANKIN, residing at Munhall, in the countyof Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, a citizen of the United States,have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements inSchool-Desks, oi' which improvements the following is a specification.

rhe object of my invention is to provide a combined school desk andchairs whereby a larger number of pupils may be comfortably seated andadequately provided with desk facilities than is possible by vthe use ofthe usual types of desks and chairs, and also to provide a school deskwhich may be adjusted to the requirements of different sized pupils, andwhich affords opportunity for j anitors to properly clean a school roomfloor.

y invention is illustrated in the accompanying sheet of drawings whichform part of my speciiication. Figure 1 is a side view of the desk andchairs, Fig. 2 a plan view thereof, a portion of the top being brokenaway; and Fig. 3 a detail sectional view n taken on the line IIL-III,Fig. 1.

rlhe desk which I provide has a plurality of sides and a top soconstructed that a pupil may work from each side of the desk. In theillustrative embodiment or' the invention the desk is square, havingfour sides 1, 1a, 1b and 1c, and the top 2 has four working faces 3, 3a,3l and 3C, each of which may slope upwardly, as indicated. The spacebetween the top 2 and bottom l of the desk is divided by partitions 5into book compartments 6, one of which is open at the right hand portionof each side of the desk. If desired, the bottom 4 may be made ofscreen-like metal, such as a perforate plate, so that dust and other'foreign and unsanitary matter will not readily accumulate in the bookcompartments.

The desk is supported by vertically adjustable legs, arranged one ateach corner, and a chair is pivotally mounted on each leg so that it mayswing horizontally. Preferably, each leg consists of a cylindrical tube7 having oppositely threaded ends engaging flanged sleeves 8 and 9, theflanges of the sleeves 8 being attached to the desk bottom 4, and thoseof the sleeve 9 being adapted to be attached to a supporting floor 10.To hold tubes 7 in their adjusted positions, the sleeves 3 may beprovided with set screws 11.

Each chair preferably consists of a wire back 15 and a comfortablesaddle seat 12 attached to the outer end of a bracket 13, at the innerend oi which there are formed two sleeves 14 and 14a. Between thesesleeves there is a spring for holding the chair yieldingly toward a sideof the desk. The spring preferably comprises oppositely coiled sections16 and 16FL having their outer ends looped over, or otherwise securedto, the top and bottom of the bracket 13. Between the coil sections apin 17 engages the loop in the spring and extends into the tube 7. Thebracket 13 is supported by a pin 18 extending through the tube 7 justbelow the sleeve 14B.

In Fig. 2 one of the chairs is shown in its outward position, that is tosay, the position it occupies when a pupil is working on the desk, andthe other seats are shown in their inward positions adjacent to thesides or" the desk. That the spring 16, 16a may not eXert pressure upona chair when in such outward position, the bottom of the sleeve 1-1-umay be provided with a groove 19 adapted to receive the pin 1S as shownin Fig. 3. For limiting the inward position ofthe chair, the lower sideof the bracket 13 may be provided with a lug 2O adapted to engage theouter end of the pin 13. The chairs are, however, not limited to the twopositions indicated. Each may swing through an arc of about 180D, sothat, when desired, all the pupils may face in one direction.

By equipping school rooms with the combined desks and chairs which Iprovide, a large economy of school room space is effected, thus makingit possible to accommodate more pupils in one room, or to arrange thedesks so that each room will have ample free floor space for physicalexercises. Each desk may, by turning the leg sections 7, be verticallyadjusted to best meet the needs of different sized pupils; and withrespect to such adjustment, it will be observed that the verticalmovement of the 'desk and chairs, is effected simultaneously,

the chairs being raised or lowered just half as much as the desk,assuming, of course, equal pitches of the threads at the opposite endsof the tubes 7. It is also characteristic of my invention that thesupports for desks and chairs offer a minimum of obstacles to the propersweeping' or other cleaning of the ioor. In effect, there is but asingle support for the desk and chair oi each pupil.

According to the' provisions of the patent statutes, I have desci'ibedthepiinciple and operation of my invention together with theconstruction which I now consider to repre-V sent the best embodimentthereof. However,v

I desire to have it Vunderstood that, within the scope o1 the appendedclaims, my invention may be practised by other forms of constructionthan that specifically shown and described.

I claim as my invention: l. The combination of a school desk having aplurality of sides and a top affording a working face from each of saidsides,l a

2. The combination of a school desk hav-'VY ing a plurality oi' sidesand a topV affording aworking face from each of said sides, a

leg at each corner of the desk,V each leg' including a section havingopposite screw threads at its endsjand chairsipivoted on said legsections whereby the turning of said ilegsections simultaneously adjuststhe desk and chai-rs dillerent relative amounts7 each of said chairsbeing spring pressed toward one side of said'desk.

soV

3. The combination of a school desk having a plurality of sides and atop affording a workingface from each ofsaid sides, a leg at each cornercfa-the desk, each leg includ-V ing a section having opposite screwthreads at its end, and chairs pivoted on said legV sections, wherebytheturning of said leg sections simultaneously adjusts the desk and Ychairs different relative amounts. Y

v Inl testimony whereof I have hereunto set Y my hand.

e GEORGE L.Y RANKIN.

Witnesses: l

PAUL VN. CRrrCHLow, Fnaiyois J. ToMAssoN.

